This plot in the public park is sparely shaded by a pair of large, twisting trees, leaving a clear view of the sky at its center. The area has been cleared of any grass, weeds, and other errant flora. Rocks, big and small alike, have been pushed to the outskirts of the dirt center, creating a loosely defined ring. The cleared area is large enough to comfortably situate up to two large creatures, such as wiurns or thundergugs, with plenty of space for stretching wings or snaking necks. It is far from the entry of the park, presumably for some peace and relative seclusion from anyone who may be disturbed by the large creatures to be trained here.

It is a fairly attractive spot, likely used by others when its typical visitor is not around. Clean of trash, low branches, dung, and other such debris, it seems the plot is well taken care of to help keep it as safe as possible for person and beast alike. The area would make for a quaint picnic spot on a good day. That is, if one does not mind the sight, smells, and sounds of the other park visitors.

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 14:44:47 GMT -6

Ah, such brilliant, shiny golden plumage. Mashiik was a fine specimen of an Alurook. He could watch her feathers glimmer in the morning light until the sun laid to rest for the day. Oh and also fluff her downy underbelly for hours. It was incredibly soft. Though, she didn't quite enjoy that as much as he did. The mammalian sat propped up against the trunk of a large tree, gazing upon the giant owl as it preened its feathers. Unfortunately, he was here with her not to simply sit and stare. He could do that at the kennel. Today was the day to teach her how to be a glorious mount. Starting with the basics, of course. Time to get to work! Xentus stood up, approaching the Alurook with a treat bottle in hand.

"Mashiiiik", the leopard called out to the owl in a soft, almost sing-song tone. He clicked his tongue a few times, trying to garner her attention, "Mashiiiiik!"

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 14:55:49 GMT -6

The giant owl continued her preening for a few moments longer, making sure every feather was zipped and in place. It wasn't until the second time her name was called that she paid any mind to her keeper, lifting her head from under her wing with a loose feather pinched in her beak. The sound of his voice was intriguing... *Click* A gumball sized treat was held out before her, accompanied by the sharp, unmistakable sound from a clicker. Oh, what was this? Food? Food! Yes please! The feather in her beak was dropped in favor of plucking the morsel from the mammalian, grazing his palm in the process. An audible 'ouch!' was emitted, a shallow cut left on the surface of the hand. An unintentional side effect of a razor sharp beak, unfortunately. "Good, Mashiik", the praise came through after a deep swallow to keep back additional yelps of 'owwowow'.

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 15:03:48 GMT -6

'Ugh', Xentus uttered mentally, examining the cut on his palm. His wonderful bird didn't know her own size and strength. But, she wasn't to blame for this. It was a result of his own carelessness after all. He had even brought a set of leather gloves just for the sole purpose of not getting hid hands and arms ripped to shreds by an overeager beak. With a sigh, the mammalian man went to retrieve the gloves from his pack, as well as a bandage to cover his new wound. Once his gloves were donned, he turned back to the oversized owl.

"Mashiik", he gently uttered as he stepped closer to the bird, "Mashiiiik." The alurook had already turned her focus back on preening, seeing no further point in paying attention to the leopard after the food was swallowed and out of the picture. "Look here, Mashiik", he called, accompanied with soft tongue clicks.

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 15:11:51 GMT -6

Hmm now this feather goes there.. And this one feels a bit off. Huh? Her preening was disturbed once again. The calls of the pastel blue leopard man were becoming a bit repetitive. But... Maybe he had food again? The golden owl swiveled her head to Xentus, her large round eyes examining the figure.*Click* Oh, that sound again! And food again! This time, the mammalian held up the tasty treat with his newly gloved hand. She could feel the odd texture of the leather against her beak as she plucked away the treat. The feeling did not deter her from being overeager for food, however. Maybe there was more? She communicated her desire for more food with a trill and a cocked head. The alurook's comparatively giant head moved in short, fast bursts as she looked the mammalian over for more treats. But none seemed to come. Oh well. Back to preening.

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 15:22:21 GMT -6

"Good girl, Mashiik! Good Mashiik!", he praised the bird thoroughly this time, no need to swallow to hold the wince-inducing pain back - the gloves were a success! It was to be expected, though he would be lying if he wasn't at least slightly wary of the bird puncturing the leather hand-dress as well. Xentis smiled a toothy grin at the golden alurook as she cocked her head, looking him over in a few different places for another tasty snack. He definitely was gathering her attention easily enough. Or maybe it was just the food. Regardless, the fairly intuitive nature of these birds was nice to witness first hand. Once the owl returned again to her preening, he called out for her. "Mashiik!" His voice was less sing-song and more direct. A command. With any luck, he would be able to ditch the treats just for saying her name. It was step one in a long journey, and he didn't want to run out of them too soon.

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 15:37:14 GMT -6

The blue food-giver said this 'Mashiik' a lot. Did it mean food? The Alurook shifted her attention to the mammalian man more fluidly this time, stopping mid-preen of a feather to turn her attention to them. 'Khoo?', the sound eminated from her throat, almost questioningly. *Click!* As if on cue, the clicker sounded as soon as the bird set her sights upon the man. Her large head lowered down, expecting a tasty little morsel as her prize for ending her preening to look this way. But there was nothing but a brown gloved hand. She pressed her beak into it, clacking as if in disappointment. The hand then rubbed against the sharp hook on her face, more of that 'good Mashiik' being repeated. Well, maybe this wasn't food, but a nice face rub felt rather nice. She accepted this. Perhaps it wasn't as good or tasty as food, but it was still a satisfactory reward.

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 15:52:40 GMT -6

"Such a good bird, Mashiik", Xentus praised as he rubbed the massive beak that was pressing into his gloved hand, "Wonderful job, Mashiik!" The leopard was relieved that it the owl was fine without the constant flow of treats. He was pleased with her performance so far. He had psyched himself out into believing the bird would pose a challenge like his wiurns. Now those beasts could be quite stubborn when they wanted to, and had no mind towards pleasing their keeper whatsoever. This Alurook, on the other hand, seemed much sharper. Yes, in more ways than mentally.. His eyes traveled to his hand, stopping his petting for the time being. He had to remind himself that even the most wonderful of creatures could still hurt him, even if they didn't mean it. But that could be remedied with some gentleness training.

"Mashiik!", the leopard called to the bird once again, snapping back to the task at hand.

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 16:07:19 GMT -6

Mashiik. Hm, that again. The golden alurook had just gotten back to her preening session, and not even a couple minutes later does she hear the familiar sounding call from the mammalian man. It had a kinda nice tone to it too. The owl turned her attention back to Xentus, blinking at him with her large eyes. It was a questioning look, the kind that asked, 'what do you want?'. If she were merely blinking to moisten her eyes, a nictitating membrane would slide her them. But this was a very deliberate action. Whether the leopard could read that or not was a different story. *Click*"Mashiik! Good Mashiik", his praise came, repeating more of that 'Mashiik' business. And no tasty food either. That was fine though, as long as perhaps she could get her beak scratched again? The avian lowered down her head, offering her beak for another round of petting.

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 16:19:56 GMT -6

What a wonderful creature. He could see the shine of intelligence in her eyes as she blinked at him. Thinking. Curious. And maybe a bit annoyed from his constantly interrupting her preening. "Yes Mashiik, you are a good Mashiik", he cooed gently as he rubbed the owl's hooked beak. He could feel it gently opening and closing under his gloved palm, soft clicks emitting as the two halves met each other. Many birds seemed to enjoy having their beaks scratched and rubbed, and the giant sized ones seemed to be no exception. Xentus enjoyed such tender moments of bonding, even if the action itself was nothing special.

He decided to let some time pass before picking up on training again, just to make sure the avian didn't forget or didn't care about this 'Mashiik' business after all. Some time was dedicated to arranging his pack, a bit more on checking his wound. He was ready to resume. "Mashiik!", he commanded.

Post by Xentus on Feb 1, 2020 17:46:47 GMT -6

The bird had perched itself onto a large gnarled root that was poking out of the ground near the base of a nearby tree while Xentus went to give her some space. Preening still, of course. There was a lot of upkeep in keeping these feathers shiny and pristine, after all. The perch here was much more comfortable on her feet than the packed dirt in the center of the plot, warranting the move. A few loose feathers and down collected onto the ground below her. There, that felt much better. Mashiik fluffed up and shook her body, settling down until her keeper decided it was time for something else. She was given a precious couple of minutes to sit and watch the other visitors before the familiar sound rang through the air. "Mashiik!" The giant owl's attention gravitated towards the speaker of the name. 'Khooo?', her response came, emanated with a trill.

Post by Xentus on Feb 2, 2020 4:44:24 GMT -6

Getting her attention wasn't difficult at all now. Though, she was rather responsive to him already to begin with. The bird was quite fond of her owner, or so he felt. Who wouldn't enjoy the presence of their food-giver? A smile cracked onto the leopard's muzzle, pleased by the oddly cute sounds of the giant owl. Now, time for the next step - getting the alurook to come to the sound of its name.

"Yes, good girl, Mashiik. Here, Mashiik!", Xentus called out for the golden bird while standing in the center of the dirt plot, "Mashiiiik!" Reflexively, he made beckoning motions with his hand. The gesture was simple, curling his fingers towards him a few times while pointing his arm out lightly to the owl. Whether or not it helped draw Mashiik towards him would be a different story. Seeing her upon her gnarled perch made him feel that she was going to need a bit of convincing...

Post by Xentus on Feb 2, 2020 4:57:05 GMT -6

The alurook tilted her head slightly at the mammalian as he continued to call her name. Yes, she felt this 'Mashiik' thing was attention grabbing. But he had her attention already, why continue? Apparently she simply couldn't stand peacefully here. No, there had to be a nearby distraction needing to bother her further. There wasn't food present. And she was quite comfortable where she was perched. The hard packed dirt wasn't nice on her talons. She was staying put. Though, the mammalian was interesting to watch. A pair of big round eyes locked onto Xentus and his odd flailing. The golden owl was quite used to his presence. She favored the man over strangers, certainly. His movements were usually scheduled and routine at the kennel. Early twilight feedings and fresh water, with the occasional talon file or polish, then another meal before dark. Sometimes it was the metal thing that sounded like him. But never had he taken such time and attention to do something like this. What was he trying to achieve..

Post by Xentus on Feb 2, 2020 5:06:23 GMT -6

Of course it was going to take more coercing than that. Ah what wishful thinking he had. Xentus chuckled to himself softly, shaking his head. If only it were just that easy. At least the bird seemed to respond to her name fairly well, so he was still proud of that fact. Time to whip out the snacks. The leopard made his way to his backpack, which was full of different trinkets and items. Some he needed, others not so much. There was a moment of jumbling through the bag before he found what he was looking for - chunks of raw meat in a neat plastic pouch. This would surely get her moving. If it didn't, he would have to rethink his training approach..The pastel blue mammalian walked back to the center of the plot and waved a cube of steak up in the air with his gloved hand. The other hand beckoned, calling out for the bird, "Mashiik!"

Post by Xentus on Feb 2, 2020 5:14:43 GMT -6

Now, what was that fuzzy man up to now? Mashiik trailed him as he moved to his pack, her whole head moving in short bursts instead of one fluid motion. She wasn't so curious as to go running up and peering over his shoulder though. She was more of a 'wait and see' kind of predator. It wasn't long before the man wandered back to the center of the dirt circle, this time with something up absolute interest. Food. He was calling her name again, but her attention was already fully on him. But why was he over there? She was here, on a comfortable perch. When food came in the morning, it was like the finest room service, served directly before her on the feeding perch. Then again, this was not her cozy kennel space. Regardless of how tempting the sight was, the bird stayed put, utilizing her wait and see tactic. Perhaps fate will reward the patient.

Shoutbox

Morgan: No one knows yet. But I did want to make it clear that the jar itself isn't used for lotine husbandry in any way. c:Jun 5, 2020 4:24:19 GMT -6*

Twilight-Claw: I'm only assuming that it does something similar like a Fungal Beast that infects a Leaf-scatter. (the one with moss and I think it was a pink flower growing on the head.)Jun 5, 2020 4:18:34 GMT -6

Morgan: The lolatic doesn't disappear after one use, and can be reused on the same lotine when it is allowed to 'infect' a lotine- to my knowledge.Jun 5, 2020 1:41:37 GMT -6

Morgan: The only effect/thing that the jar can be used for is to open up into a lolatic. The jar itself has no use in lotine breedings.Jun 5, 2020 1:39:52 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: and the jar is then gone, if with the creature I am more guessing with this the creature doesn't disappear and it has unlimited use.Jun 5, 2020 0:17:55 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Something else I am wondering about with the Lotine breeding is whether one would use the jar the Lolatic comes from in the breeding, or actually the creature itself. I'm assuming with it if its the jar, then it gives people only one shot in a breeding, Jun 5, 2020 0:16:08 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Then using it in my rps is definitely just for the sake of rp's and not for anything additional. Jun 5, 2020 0:12:17 GMT -6

Renathan: There's no additional effect for adding a fish to a magical berry in a lotine breeding. Magical Berry is kinda it's own thing. Adding a fish for roleplay value shouldn't hurt, but it has no effect when used on a magical berry lotine breeding.Jun 4, 2020 22:27:14 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: be just for the sake of rp, and perhaps seeing if it might lent a bigger chance to multiple offspring with unique pattern. X3Jun 4, 2020 15:31:01 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: I think your right on it being unlimited use yeah, although.. *cough* I only found out a couple hours after I started writing that I had yet to buy the fish in question so used the one you could get for free as a replacement, it still was meant to mostly Jun 4, 2020 15:30:59 GMT -6

Riku: From what I loosely understand about the fish is that it isn't one-use, whereas the berry is. I feel like there wouldn't be any consequence of 'using' the fish...which I'd think just ooc wouldn't be counted for whatever rolls or whatever it is that it usesJun 3, 2020 14:14:30 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Thanks for that piece of info Ren! <3 | But would it be allowed for the flavor of the rp if the berry wasn't filling enough for the Lotine? Jun 1, 2020 6:09:21 GMT -6*

Renathan: There is no need to double up on a fish and a magical berry (doesn't change the effect of the berry at all) in a lotine breeding.Jun 1, 2020 6:02:21 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: Does anyone know if it is possible to combine both a magical berry and a fish in a Lotine breeding? Or is you can only choose one of them? (right now writing a Lotine breeding) Jun 1, 2020 5:36:49 GMT -6

Twilight-Claw: I am still interested in trading it for a green drake. Jun 1, 2020 0:31:33 GMT -6